4x4 light on

[bigaln]

hi folks just wondering if anyone can help just bought my first bmw x5 and has 4x4 light on and has code 55c4 any ideas folks?

[Greydog]

Morning Allan and Welcome to the Forum

A bit more information on which model X5  would help, 4x4 lights on can be a number of causes simplest being low battery voltage to steering angle sensor calibration, wheel speed sensors/ABS or transfer box issues. Check the fuse box fuse 46 from memory controls the transfer box pull it and you will have rear drive only but no risk of damage to the transfer case.

Check your tyres xdrive cars are sensitive to having the correct size tyres all round, they don't like mismatched or budget tyres which are known causes of issues with transfer boxes.

As your car is 2005 it should be 6 speed gearbox and an early Xdrive transfer case model, listen carefully when you stop and turn off if you here clicking wiring sound for a few seconds my guess would be the servo motor on the transfer case. The servo motor has a nylon gear and they wear and chatter against the worm drive not a huge job to change there are several how too's on you tube. Take a look at www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your vin into the search box it will bring up your model then search  transfer box to ensure your looking at the correct part if buying from a parts supplier. One of our sons friends has an X3 and had this issue we took off the servo motor separated the case and discovered a gear which was stripped over about 20% of its teeth. He was due to go away on a family holiday next day so as a temporary fix we rotated the gear 180 deg it fixed the problem and got him on his way. He found a reconditioned servo motor when he got back.

Hope this helps

Dave

[bigaln]

thanks for the detailed info bud I thought it would be a simple one problem fix lol never mind the info I got from garage was code 55c4 (no message from dsc ) if that helps and its 3.0d sport thanks again for your quick support.

[bigaln]

I just checked tyres they are 255/50/19 on front and 285/45/19 on the back are they correct size foe the car?

[Greydog]

Tyre sizes look correct for the 19" staggered set up (wider rear) but are the tyres all the same make?  Different makes may well have different rolling radius's 

BMW specified ^ (star marked tyres) mainly Michelin when your car was new. However as our cars get older cheaper tyres tend to get fitted. X drive cars don't handle different rolling radius front to rear so suffer transmission wind up which sadly if not addressed equals transfer case damage. Try making a small chalk mark on the front and rear tyres at the bottom roll the car forward until the rear chalk mark is at the bottom (1 revolution) the front should also be at the bottom. If the tyres are mismatched the chalk mark on the front wont be, each revolution the gap will increase to a point where the transfer case gives up trying to compensate and breaks (transmission windup).

Just googled your fault code and from what I read it points to a stripped gear in the servo motor on the transfer case or servo motor failure a simple fix if your handy with spanners . I have attached a page from the BMW parts catalogue that may help item 12 is the servo motor. It took us about 4 hrs to remove repair and replace on the X3 so similar on the X5 I would guess, and we did it without a lift just ramps and a set of axle stands.

My advice is don't drive it unless you have pulled the fuse or unplugged the motor as you are risking further damage may be even to differential front or rear.

Dave

 

RealOEM.com - Online BMW Parts Catalog.pdf

[beemer]

"Check the fuse box fuse 46 from memory controls the transfer box pull it and you will have rear drive only but no risk of damage to the transfer case." Quoted from greydog...

 

That advice does not work armchair mech.

mine started once with out fuse 46 and refused to start again there after until I reinstalled fuse 46. Try again num num.

[Greydog]

An expert is among us 🤪 the information I supplied is taken from BMW TIS Workshop Information plus having repaired a few

So rather than throw out insults and innuendo try telling us how you fixed the issue with yours 

Also try reading the Post it was dated 2018  

[Bluetoo]

Hello! I know this is an old thread, but I’m having the same issue as the OP. 55C4 seems to be the main code I’m getting. Battery is new within the last year and I’ve been monitoring the voltage on the dash readout (unlocked to read test 9). I’ve not noticed any clicking and no other symptoms. Disconnected battery when I was doing some work on it and that didn’t reset the light. It seems like it could be several different things, based on my internet searches. I was hoping the OP figured out the fix. 

[Greydog]

Morning Jason

Welcome to the Forum

What diagnostic are you using? Cause can be Steering angle sensor or DSC control unit even a failing/failed wheel speed sensor

Obviously the wheel speed sensor is the simplest fix hopefully that s your issue

Dave

[Bluetoo]

I’m using the BMW Scanner 140 (PA Soft) on my laptop and that is where I’m showing the 55C4 error. I was also getting a couple other errors that possibly indicated low voltage, but the battery is new and Voltage test seems fine at 12.1 when not running and 14.1 when running. I know bad batteries can wreak havoc on BMW systems. I also have INPA but am not overly familiar with it. I believe there are diagnostic tool there that may be able to lead me to the bad sensor?

[Greydog]

Morning Jason

Try looking at "Live Data"  BMW 1.4.0 is the user friendly one I still use it on I-bus cars , INPA takes a bit more time to master but is the better tool as it includes TIS and WIS 

Which section is the fault code showing in ? 

Dave

 

 

 

[Bluetoo]

The 55C4 error is showing under the VTG transfer box. I’m going to scan it again to see if any other relevant errors are also showing. 

[Greydog]

Hi Jason

I would start with the Transfer case activation motor quite possibly the Nylon Gear has teeth missing you can buy repair kits or a straight swap motor job

Before you do the fix make sure the wheels/tyres are correct or you will end up doing the job again.

Dave 

[Bluetoo]

Would the actuator gear cause just the 4x4 light?  Most things I have read it causes the trifecta of 4x4, ABS and Brake light. I do have the 20 inch staggered setup, 275/40 front and 315/35 rear. 

[Greydog]

As the fault is showing against the VTG I would start there 4 bolts and a plug and then check the nylon gears. If the tyres you are running are good, previous sets may not have been.so it's possible damage caused then you are suffering with now

Dave

 

[Bluetoo]

Well I pulled the actuator and while the gear was worn it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Teeth still there and worm gear seemed to engage ok. I did end up replacing the whole unit as I figured it was 18 years old and cannot hurt. Sadly I’m still getting the same error under VTG: 55C4. Reset code drove it 4x4 light never went off, scanned again and code was back. The other thing I noticed was when scanning all modules, the ABS was never found, I cannot remember if it ever was. So not sure if that is indication of the ABS/DSC module being bad or just need to use a different scanner. I have INPA and am setting up DIS. I’m a not very experienced using either of those. 

[Greydog]

When looking at BMW 1.4.0 any Greyed out modules mean no communication  so need investigation

The ABS module can be removed and often repaired I have used ECU Testing in Nottingham a few times they are normally fast turnaround as well worth talking to them.

Dave